Abraham-Ward bout may be called off

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Super Six World Boxing Classic semi-final clash between WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Andre Ward and former tournament point leader King Arthur Abraham will be called off – if the Californian Boxing Commission refuses to honor an existing agreement over neutral officials, fightnews.com reports.

“Contrary to what has been previously agreed on, the Californian Commission all of a sudden insists on installing a Californian judge as well as a Californian referee. That is totally unacceptable,” Hall-of-Fame-Promoter Wilfried Sauerland said. “This turnaround comes as a huge and unpleasant surprise. Two months ago, everybody involved agreed that this tremendous fight would be served by neutral officials. We agreed to have one judge from California, one from Europe and one from neither Europe nor the US. The referee is supposed to be neither American nor European either. Unless this issue is sorted, King Arthur will not leave the country. We have put his flights on hold.”

The 31-year-old German is currently shaping up on a small German island in the Baltic Sea. He was scheduled to leave for Los Angeles this weekend. “King Arthur is more than happy to challenge Ward in his backyard,” Sauerland added. “But we demand neutral officials as agreed on. We have learned our lesson from the Kessler-Ward fight. Back then the Californian Commission insisted on having a Californian referee. His performance was – to put it mildly – a joke.”

And Sauerland added: “This is not some beach bar brawl but the semi-final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a sensational tournament that has captured global attention. It’s a shame that the clash is jeopardized just because a local commission refuses to honor existing agreements and basic rules of fair play.”